


Rebirth

by Nitroglycerific



Category: Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft (Comics), World of Warcraft - Various Authors
Genre: Death Knight, Draenei, Gen, Major Character Undeath, Paladins, Priests, Trans Female Character, Transgender, Undead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-09
Updated: 2015-02-22
Packaged: 2018-03-06 19:43:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3146309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nitroglycerific/pseuds/Nitroglycerific
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place during Wrath of the Lich King. Draenei sisters Rinirah and Talesha Vistorna mourn the loss of their brother, Arkos, who was killed a year ago during the Scourge attack on Stormwind. However, they soon meet a female Draenei death knight who claims to be their dead brother. What the fel is going on here?!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Baptism

**Author's Note:**

> Pronunciation Guide (in order of appearance)  
> [Because I've played with most of these characters long enough to know they have unpronounceable names.]
> 
> Rinirah: ri-NEAR-ahh  
> Talesha: tall-AY-shah  
> Arkos: AR-koase  
> Espere: es-PAIR

Rinirah sat in the massive, oaken pews of Stormwind Cathedral. She eagerly craned her neck to see her little sister, Talesha behind the pulpit. Talesha, along with a dozen other priests-in-training were lined up to receive their holy orders today. Rinirah remembered her own knighting as a paladin only three years prior. The swelling pride, the sense of duty, the confident self-righteousness... she was overjoyed that her little sister was surely feeling the same way.

She leaned forward and waved emphatically to her sister. Talesha awkwardly returned the favor with minimal movement so as not to draw attention to herself.

A priestess of Elune rose from the front pew and approached the altar. She surveyed the crowd before speaking in a surprisingly booming voice.

“We are gathered here today to see the christening of thirteen new priests. Each candidate behind me has proven their worth multiple times over. A life of the cloth is a challenging role. It is the role of a leader, of a guide. A priest leads their flock to the light at all times, by all means. A priest has not only supplicated themselves in service to the light, they have become intimately familiar with its reverse. A priest navigates a treacherous continuum, weaving shadow and light to guard the weak, defend the innocent, and lead their flock to safety. A priest would reach into the twisting nether itself to save a friend.”

Rinirah sniffled and wiped away a tear.

“I will now call up each candidate individually for their initiation. Please hold your applause until the end of the ceremony.”

Aspirants approached and left the stands in respectful silence. However, when the night elf priestess called Talesha to the altar, Rinirah momentarily lost herself and leapt up from her pew, clapping emphatically. Naturally, no one else in the church joined her, and Rinirah's faux pas reverberated throughout the cavernous cathedral. Talesha covered her face with her palm.

Minutes later, the ceremony was completed and each new priest joined up with their family in the church or the courtyard. Talesha stomped down the steps, her hooves clacking against the stone as she marched on her sister.

“What the fel was that?!”

Rinirah gasped and shushed Talesha. “Watch your mouth, missy!”

Talesha groaned. “Ugh, you made me look like a total idiot in front of all my friends!”

“I’m sorry. I just got so excited,” Rinirah bowed sincerely. “Congratulations. Really. I’m so proud of you!” 

Talesha shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“You _guess so_? This is the most important day of your life!”

Talesha rolled her eyes. “That’s what literally everyone in the monastery kept saying. I get it already! Besides, I had, like, three dress rehearsals of this ceremony already. The magic’s kinda gone. I’ve felt like a graduate for a month now.”

Rinirah sighed and rested a hand on Talesha’s shoulder. “Well, _I’m_ excited for you. As your eldest sister, I am happy to be able to bask in the light with you.”

Talesha buried her hands in her face again. “Oh for-... you sound just like Arkos. And you’re my only sister.”

Rinirah giggled. “Oh, that reminds me. We still have to visit him to show off your fancy new stole.”

“Yeah, might as well, since we’re right here.

The two waded through the crowd of doting parents and excited neophytes to exit the cathedral. However, just before passing through the massive maple doors, Rinirah noticed a hooded figure clad in black. They hung back from the crowd and leaned against the wall. Rinirah eyed them suspiciously, while the stranger's shrouded head turned to follow her on her way out.

The autumn air blustered through the two Draenei’s long hair. Rinirah tucked her pale black locks behind her ears, while Talesha effortlessly tied her sheer white hair back into a ponytail.

The girls walked along the wall of the cathedral until they reached the back, which was gated off save for a small arch. They entered and began walking through rows and rows of gravestones before turning at a fork in the cobblestone path towards the war heroes section of the cemetery.

Finally, they reached the memorial they were looking for: a small, unassuming grave second from the end of its row. The marble marker read,

 

Vindicator Arkos Vistorna

Felled by the Scourge in Valiant Defense of Stormwind

This 7th Day of Nostranon, 626 K.C.

 

Rinirah wrapped an arm around her sister’s shoulder as she spoke to the headstone. “Hey, Ark! Guess who just became a fully-fledged priest? Your little sister! Well, not me, that is. I mean _our_ little sister. She’s got a fancy new stole and everything!” She pushed Talesha forward as if to showcase her sister’s new robes.

“Rin! I can do it myself,” grumbled Talesha through gritted teeth.

Rinirah caught herself, fumbling with her words as she backed away. “Oh, right. Yeah, you can do- yeah, okay. Sorry.”

She stepped away a few feet and stood by the metal fence.

Talesha sighed. “Hey, big bro. I guess you already heard from loudmouth-“

“Sorry!” Rinirah whispered.

“-that I’m a real priest now. It’s… pretty neat. I guess I’m proud, yeah. It’s… yeah. Miss you too…”

Talesha backed away and joined her sister at the fence. “It never gets easier.”

“Yeah.” Rinirah kept her eyes stared down at the ground.

“I keep telling myself it’s gonna get easier, but it doesn’t. I start strong every time, and then I flop.”

Rinirah gingerly gripped Talesha’s hand. “It’s only been a year. Give it time.”

“I dunno. I just… sometimes, it doesn’t even feel like I’m talking to him at all. Like he’s not really there.”

“Shock and denial, dearest. Shock and denial.”

“I guess. Whatever. You wanna give it a go?”

“Sure.” Rinirah leaned forward and stood before her brother’s grave. “Hey, Ark. It’s Rinirini again.” She stood still for a few moments before kneeling and whispering a few prayers. Then she arose and immediately launched into sharing gossip from around the house.

“So she forgets she put the hearthstone on the soap dish in the tub, and next thing she knows, she’s sopping wet and naked in The Golden Keg. Oh, I never laughed so hard in my life!”

“C’mon, Riiiiin! Let’s go already!” Talesha’s pale blue face was blushing violet.

“Haha, okay! Sorry, Ark. More for next time.”

“How is it so easy for you?” inquired Talesha as the two ambled out of the cemetery.

“I… don’t know. I guess I just have a lot of stuff I want to tell him.”

“Hm.”

The two walked on in silence until they reached the arched cemetery gate. The hooded figure in black was leaning against the arch. Rinirah’s hair stood on end. No visible facial features… no particular affiliation based on garb… hooves. Probably Draenei. Or tauren? Or… demon?!

“You again?” growled Rinirah.

“Again?”

“I saw this creep at your ceremony, just before we left. What’s your business, stranger?!” Rinirah reached a hand for the hilt of her greataxe.

The figure leaned forward and sauntered towards them as they lifted their hood. It was a Draenei, alright. Female, with long, dark black hair on almost equally black skin. Her eyes glowed bright blue, but they seemed somehow… distant. Otherwordly.

Rinirah didn’t recognize the stranger, and so maintained her glower. “You know her, Tally?”

Talesha shook her head.

“Who are you?!”

The strange Draenei smirked and approached Rinirah, drawing her into a hug while she still had a hand awkwardly resting on her hilt.

The stranger whispered into Rinirah’s ear, “Is that any way to greet kin, Rinirini?”

Rinirah’s face twisted through shock, realization, and disbelief.

“Ar… Arkos?”


	2. Confirmation

Rinirah stood flabbergasted as she tried in vain to stammer out a cogent sentence.

“But who-… where did… how are… what?!”

The stranger chuckled in a voice that seemed to reverberate against invisible walls.

“Nice to see you too, Rinirini.”

The paladin refused to lower her hand from her greataxe. “H-how do we know you’re who you say you are?”

A coy grin stretched the mysterious draenei’s face. “Well, ask me a question only this ‘Arkos’ would know.”

Rinirah clenched her teeth as much as she could while speaking. “Who did… no. Where were you on- no that’s too easy. What did you get me for my birthday when I was ten?”

“A porcelain elekk. C’mon, think of something hard.”

“But… I thought I had picked something hard.” Rinirah murmured.

Suddenly, a brief flash of heavenly light enveloped the stranger. Talesha interjected, “Rin… it _is_ Arkos.”

“Huh? How can you tell?”

“I practiced my heals on him all the time when I was just starting my training.”

“I remember they wound up hurting more often than healing,” added Arkos.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, when a priest heals, they become… familiar with the soul they’re healing. I’d know that soul anywhere. It’s him.”

“ _Him?_ Oh, I don’t know if we can really say that anymore,” Arkos remarked while cupping her breasts in her hands.

“For the love of the _light,_ cut that out!” Rinirah barked.

“But… you’re a boy in your soul, right? Shouldn’t we refer to you how you really feel?”

“That’s my point.” Arkos donned a serious, somber demeanor. “I don’t think you can refer to my soul as male anymore.” She sighed. “Look, can we discuss this somewhere besides the entrance to a cemetery? Let’s go home, have a cup of tea.”

“I don’t trust you in our house yet!” Rinirah cried.

Talesha grumpily huffed. “Oh, come on, Rin. I already told you it’s really Arkos. Besides, we have those rose hips we’ve been saving for a special occasion. I’m pretty sure family coming back from the grave in a new body fits the description for ‘special occasion.’”

Arkos sighed. “Tally, did they already teach you how to shackle the undead?”

“Yeah…” said Talesha, skeptically.

Arkos held out her hands. “Bind me up. We’re not getting anywhere at this rate.”

 

♥ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ♥

 

The three draenei sat around the dinner table, the tension thick enough to cut. Arkos was enjoying surveying the house. All the things that had changed, all the things that remained.

“Wow, never thought I’d see myself here again.”

She tried to take a sip of tea, but her bound wrists made it clumsy and near-impossible.

“Talesha, would you be a dear and help me have a sip?” she asked, pointing at her teacup.

“Oh, sure big br- uh… sis. Sorry.”

“No, no.” Arkos took a sip as Talesha held it up to her. “I’m sure this is a lot to take in at once.”

Rinirah sat stern and unmoving across from Arkos at the table, eyeing everything she did with scrutiny. Her tea steamed in her cup, still and untouched.

“So,” Rinirah began, “how does our big brother, who died in the scourge invasion, end up an undead woman at our dinner table, Arkos?”

“Actually, it’s Espere now. Means ‘hope’ in some Common dialect. Alliance brass gave all death knights code names for documentation, and I liked mine enough to take it on full-time.”

“Death knight? You serve the Lich King?!” Rinirah reached for her greataxe lying against the table.

Espere rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Surely news of our emancipation and admittance to the Alliance was talk of the town for a month or so. Rinirini, if I served the Lich King, how would I manage to walk around Stormwind without being chopped into pieces?” She tugged at the unnaturally dark skin on her cheek. “I’m not exactly inconspicuous.”

"My skin's almost that dark as well!"

"Rinirini, there's a big difference between dark purple and black-as-night. Just look at these clothes. I'm hardly subtle."

“I-… well… yeah. Fair.” Rinirah left her axe alone and leaned back in her chair.

Talesha tried to get the conversation back on track. “So what happened?”

“Well, I died. Not for very long, though. Someone dug up my corpse and delivered it to the Scourge. Gotta say, that was the worst part of the past year: the time before being raised. Not being able to move or even speak… no thank you.”

“You were conscious for all that?! But you were dead!”

“You think the soul dies with the body or goes into some kind of slumber? No, no no… almost every soul endures for years after the body, slowly watching it rot, waiting to fade away or become… something else. I’d probably have become a wandering spirit had I stayed dead a few more months.”

“But that doesn’t explain the new body,” Rinirah interjected.

“Yes, yes. Well, I doubt you saw the extent of the damage to my body, what with the closed-casket service and all.”

Talesha butted in. “I’m sorry, I just gotta say: it is _entirely_ creepy that you were aware of your surroundings at your own funeral.”

“I guess.” Espere shrugged. “Seems I’ve become a little desensitized to what’s creepy or not. Anyway, my body was in pretty bad shape. ‘Beyond salvage,’ the Scourge in the Chop Shop called it. But in their classic grisly utilitarianism, the Scourge isn’t inclined to just throw out good parts with the bad ones.”

Rinirah shuddered.

“Every now and then, they came across a good, useable body with a soul that had gone completely mad, usually in the raising process. If the soul is beyond obeying orders, it’s useless to them. I don’t know what was wrong with the soul that originally inhabited this body; it was empty first time I saw it. Regardless, they had a good body with no soul, and they had my soul with a broken body. Do the math.”

Talesha nervously continued the line of questioning. “And… you liked happening to get a girl body?”

“Immediately. I always felt… off in my old life. Uneasy. I didn’t know how to put it in words, so I never did. I just figured it was regular, everyday self-consciousness. But the second I woke up in this body… the sleekness of my anatomy, the slenderness of my curves, the weight of breasts on my chest… I knew immediately what had been wrong with me all along.”

Rinirah was utterly dumbfounded. She sat staring at Espere, jaw agape.

Talesha tried to break the ice. “W- well, I guess it’s just lucky you managed to get a draenei body.”

“Eh, it’s not that surprising. They tried to keep souls in same-race bodies. At the very least, they tried to keep hoof souls in hoof bodies. I remember seeing them put a human soul in a tauren one time… they put ‘em down as soon as they realized the poor thing couldn’t even figure out how to walk.

Rinirah abruptly rose with a clatter, causing Talesha to jump in surprise. She stomped over to the closet, pulled out a shovel and stormed out the door, slamming it behind her.

Espere sighed. “Guess we’re doing this, then. Tally, I’ll be right back with our sister. Mind waiting here for us?”

“O-oh… okay.” Talesha was visibly dejected.

“I’m sorry. I think Rinirini just needs to let some things out in private.”

She awkwardly fumbled the door open with her fettered hands, and before chasing Rinirah into the night, she turned to Talesha once more.

“Congratulations on your priesthood today, honey. I didn’t mean to steal your thunder. I just wanted to see the ceremony… to see you two. I really am proud of you.”

Rinirah hurriedly marched down the path lining the Stormwind Canals with her shovel gripped firmly in hand. Her mind kept flashing through all the times she had looked up to her brother.

When the Exodar had first plummeted into Azeroth and both of their parents were killed, Arkos stayed up with her for two solid nights to console her and Talesha. When she sprained her ankle practicing swordplay in Elwynn Forest, Arkos carried her and her greatsword back home. When she attended Arkos’ knighting ceremony in Ironforge, Rinirah remembered instantly knowing that knighthood was the path for her.

Now, the brother she had idolized and respected all these years was gone.

No… he’s been gone. For a year now. Her brother was safe, sound, and dead in Stormwind Cemetery.

She aimed to make sure.

 

♥ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ♥

 

Espere found Rinirah exactly where she expected: digging up Arkos’ grave in Stormwind Cemetery. She slowly approached, making a point to clomp her hooves on the cobblestones so as to not sneak up on Rinirah.

“I’m not there, dear.”

“My big brother died a hero. He’s in the war heroes section for a reason. I don’t know who you are, but my big brother is right here.” She made a particularly forceful push into the earth with her shovel.

“Rinirah… the body you’re looking for is in some meat pile in the plaguelands…”

“Shut up.”

“It’s not even recognizable anymore, let alone in one piece…”

“Shut up!” cried Rinirah as she dug more and more furiously.

Soon, she heard a _thunk._

“Hm. Guess they went with shallower graves in the heat of the invasion…”

“Shut up!” Rinirah cleared the dirt from the top of Arkos’ coffin and stared down at it a moment. “I’m so sorry big brother…”

Espere whispered under her breath, “You’re forgiven.”

Rinirah drove her shovel into the wooden lid of the coffin and cracked it open.

She dropped her shovel and collapsed on all fours. She heaved a few times before vomiting on the grass.

Espere sighed, averting her eyes. “I knew this was a bad idea. The other death knights warned me about returning to family. ‘They won’t understand,’ ‘they won’t see you as their family anymore,’ ‘it just won’t be the same’… should’ve listened to them. But I saw Tally’s name on the priesthood announcement outside the cathedral, and I just wanted to see the ceremony so bad… but then I saw you two and I just… I missed you so much.”

Rinirah couldn’t take it anymore. She broke down into a full wailing sob on her knees. She lunged forward and wrapped herself around Espere’s unnaturally cold waist.

“I… missed… you… tooooo!” she cried through heaving breaths.

Espere awkwardly hugged Rinirah’s head with her fettered arms. “C’mon, Rinirini. Let’s go home.”


	3. Revelations

Talesha paced back and forth around the kitchen, waiting for her sisters to come home. She kept heading for the door to track them down, but stopped and thought better of it.

The hearth had burnt down to embers and Talesha had drifted into a fitful sleep at the kitchen table before Rinirah and Espere returned home.

“Oh thank the Light you’re home. What happened?!”

Rinirah’s voice wavered as she croaked, “Oh, uh… just the cemetery again. Wanted to visit our, uh… sister’s grave.” She gently flexed her arms. They felt like they were made of jelly. “Ungh, guess I overdid it out there… I’m, uh, I think I’m gonna go get some rest.” She slowly clomped up the stairs and flopped into her bed, not even bothering to remove her ceremonial armor.

Once she heard Rinirah fall on her bed, Talesha turned to Espere. who was fumbling with her fettered hands to set the kettle over the stove. “Bet we can get one last pot out of those rosehips.”

“O-oh, wait. Let me get that for you.” Talesha held out her hands towards Espere, fingers pressed together then slowly opening wider. The swirling gold binds on Espere’s wrists loosened and eventually dissipated.

“So… what happened out there?”

“Rinirini just had to get past her doubt. That’s all.”

“But… the shovel! She didn’t… please tell me she didn’t…”

Espere sighed as she lowered herself onto a chair. “She did. I’m gonna go out once she’s fully asleep and put things back the way they were. Don’t want people panicking over grave-robbers or the Cult of the Damned.”

Talesha clenched her fist, looking up to the ceiling. “That crazy, purple-“

“Hey, it’s alright. I expected worse.”

“You did?”

“… No.” Espere folded her arms on the table and rested her head in them. Talesha looked down to Ark- erm, Espere, unsure of what to say, if anything.

After a few minutes of silence, the kettle began to whine. “Ah, I’ll get that!” Talesha shoved herself out of her chair and hurried to the stove, eager for anything to occupy herself with. Without thinking, she clasped the handle with her bare hands, and hissed when it seared her flesh.

“Tally!” Espere hurried to her sister’s side, moving the kettle to a cold burner without so much as a wince. Talesha stood agape, staring at Espere. “C’mon,Tally! We gotta get your hand in some cold water fast.”

“I-… I’ll just heal it. What… how did you… didn’t that hurt?”

“No… nothing really hurts anymore.” Espere clenched her hand over and over, unable to feel the sear she clearly saw on her skin.

“What’s… what’s it like being undead?” Talesha timidly asked while flicking a healing spell at her hand.

Espere searched for the right words while she poured water into the teapot lined with damp rosehips. “It’s… different. Life’s little trappings don’t really constrain you anymore. I don’t feel pain, I don’t need sleep, I don’t need to eat … fel, even this tea is mostly just for good manners. I don’t need to drink, after all.”

“Wow… that almost sounds tempting-” Talesha blurted out.

“No! No, don’t mistake yourself. I can barely taste things now, so even though I can choose to eat, what’s the point? I don’t need sleep, but nights are long and lonely now. And… remember how much I harped about the Light?”

“Oh for the Naarus’ sake, yes. You were even worse than Rin. Didn’t you write a couple poems to the Light at one point?”

“It’s gone. Tally, the Light’s gone.”

“I-… what?”

Espere poured a cup of tea. “I can’t feel it. It’s not with me anymore. It was with me when I was dead, but when I was raised, the Light abandoned me.”

“That’s… but… but you’re free. Maybe it should have abandoned you while you were under the Lich King’s sway, but… but you’re free now!”

“Doesn’t seem to matter to the Light. It’s far more fickle than I ever wanted to admit.” Espere took a somber sip. “Good tea. Delicate flavor, from what I can tell.”

Talesha fought back tears of rage. “I-… but-… how could the Light do that to you?! You were Its most devoted follower!”

Espere shrugged. “I know, Tally. I know, and it hurts. But it’s in the past. I am who I am now. At least I have a body I feel more comfortable in.”

“But at what cost?!” Talesha screamed. Espere motioned for her to keep her voice down.

“It’s a cost I might just be willing to pay again if I had the choice.”

Talesha’s knees wobbled as she sunk down in her chair. Espere slid a second cup of tea across the table to her. “Drink up. Hot tea helps everything.”

“I’m… I’m not thirsty.” Talesha hugged her arms close to her body.

“If you insist,” Talesha said, taking a deeper draw on her teacup. “Look, I promise I didn’t tell you that just to make you sad or angry at the Light. It is what It is. I just wanted you to understand that undeath is not superior to life.”

Talesha shuddered. “I… yeah. I get that now.”

Espere finished her tea in a quick gulp, then rose to head for the door. “I’m gonna go take care of the grave before the guards make their rounds. Drink some tea, get some rest. I’ve really made a mess of your Initiation day. The least you deserve is a good night’s sleep.”

Espere smiled at Talesha, and for a brief moment, her eyes seemed much less hollow and distant. Then, she was out the door.

 

♥ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ♥

 

Talesha woke up first the following morning, feeling uneasy. She’d dreamed that the Lich King had stormed into their house and took Espere away from them. She hurried down the hall to Arkos’ old room to check up on her sister.

Espere was not there.

“Oh no…”

Talesha scrambled through the rest of the house, looking for her sister, but she couldn’t find her anywhere, nor did she reply when she called out her name. She burst into Rinirah’s room and shook her awake.

“Rin! Rin! Espere’s not here! We gotta find her!”

Rinirah groggily rolled onto her side. “Nnngh. Maybe she just din’t stay here laz night. Mebbe she has a room a’ th’ inn. “

Just that moment, a town crier walked past their house, announcing the news of the day. “Oyez, oyez, oyez! Prince Anduin celebrates his fourteenth birthday today! Oyez, oyez, oyez! Draenei death knight arrested last night for grave robbing and aiding the enemy! Trial is set to take place in three days! Oyez, oyez, oyez! Dwarf drinks himself to death after challenging gnome shieldmaiden in the Golden Keg!”

Rinirah bolted upright as a knot twisted in Talesha’s stomach.

“I’ll get my things.”


End file.
